The role of historical narratives in extremist propaganda.

Some terrorist groups have been recognised as being highly successful in exploiting communications to achieve their goals. The first step in countering violent extremists' narratives is to understand the construction and application of their narratives. This project will examine an under-researched area in this field: the use of historical narratives in extremist propaganda. In-depth historical case studies will be conducted of the propaganda produced by a selected number of extremist organisations. The use of historical narratives will be analysed both within and between the case studies to provide a deeper understanding of how historical narratives are exploited in extremist propaganda.